BioAmber is seeking court approval to liquidate its Sarnia plant and other assets after no acceptable offers were received by a Friday deadline set as part of a court-approved process under Canada’s Companies Creditors Arrangement Act.
The Montreal-based company said Monday it will also continue to actively engage with bidders who qualified under the current process, and other interested parties, to determine if a transaction is still possible that would see the company’s operations continue.
“We are clearly disappointed that the qualified bidders did not place an acceptable offer for BioAmber,” CEO Richard Eno said in a news release.
“We will continue to be actively engaged with potential investors to seek an acceptable transaction and avoid the liquidation of the company’s assets.”
The company said that process is expected to conclude Aug. 14.
“We will choose to remain optimistic that this facility has a future in Sarnia-Lambton,” said Alex Palimaka, chairperson of the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership.
He said the partnership reached out Monday to BioAmber.
He said the company’s plant in Sarnia is a “world-class facility” and added the community wants investors to know it is “a willing host” with “so much to offer in the bio-industrial sector.”Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
BioAmber said it will engage with its interim lender, and other secured lenders, to “determine the best going-forward strategy.”Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu said Monday she spoke Monday with BioAmber, as well as federal government officials “to see if there’s any help available there.”
While “the official bidders have fallen through in terms of rescuing them,” there are other potential bidders for BioAmber’s Sarnia facility, Gladu said.
“So, that is some hope.”Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
The company has said in the past that it had approximately 60 employees in Sarnia.
“I’d like to thank our dedicated and highly capable employees for their outstanding service to the company,” Eno said in the news release.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
Approximately 30 production and warehouse employees at BioAmber’s Sarnia plant voted last year to join Unifor.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
Joe Free, a national representative with the union, said negotiations to reach a first contract were being held off while the company was going through the current process.
He said he hadn’t received word from the company as of Monday morning about the current status of its operations in Sarnia.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
BioAmber filed in May for court protection in Canada and the U.S., saying at the time it was “faced with a liquidity crisis” as well as “the inability to raise capital on public markets as a result of its recent delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange.”Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
BioAmber opened its Sarnia plant in 2015 where it using corn syrup to make bio-succinic acid, a building block chemical used in plastics, paints, food additives and other products. At one point, the company was negotiating with governments in Canada and the U.S. for incentives to build a second plant.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
BioAmber was an early success in Sarnia-Lambton’s efforts to attract bio-industries to operate alongside its traditional petrochemical plants and refineries.
The young company had tested its technology at a pilot plant in France when it decided to build a $140-million plant in Sarnia with the help of several million dollars in federal and provincial government loans.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
Palimaka said the economic partnership remains optimistic about the community’s future as a home for bio-industries.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
“BioAmber was our first big success story,” he said.
“There are many others that have followed – there are many others that will continue to follow.”Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
Gladu noted plans Origin Materials, Comet Biorefining, Benefuel and other bio-companies have announced for Sarnia.Bidders firm once-vaunted Sarnia refinery plans
“I have not given up on BioAmber,” she added.
“I just think we need the right investors to come and help them over this spot.”
pmorden@postmedia.com
Related Topics